Touch assembly

TWI937581BActive Publication Date: 2026-09-01TPK GLASS SOLUTIONS (XIAMEN) INC
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Patent Information

Application Number
TW113138739
Authority / Receiving Office
TW · TW
Patent Type
Patents
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2024-10-11
Publication Date
2026-09-01
Estimated Expiration
2044-10-10

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Conventional touch module manufacturing using indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes faces issues of limited indium reserves, environmental pollution, high energy consumption, and waste generation, along with visibility problems in high-brightness environments.

Method used

A touch assembly utilizing curved conductive wires with a conductive inner core and outer coating, fabricated via wire-winding technology, and incorporating visual enhancement structures like anti-glare films or polarizers to reduce visibility and glare.

Benefits of technology

This approach eliminates pollution and high energy consumption associated with ITO, reduces wire visibility, and improves clarity in bright conditions by minimizing shadow and glare effects.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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    Figure TWG2TB001908559_003
Patent Text Reader

Abstract

A touch assembly includes a protective cover, a first adhesive layer, a conductive layer, a second adhesive layer, and a visual enhancement structure. The first adhesive layer is disposed on the protective cover. The thickness of the first adhesive layer ranges from 20 µm to 200 µm. The conductive layer includes curved conductive lines disposed on the first adhesive layer. The curved conductive lines include a first group of conductive lines extending along a first direction and a second group of conductive lines extending along a second direction and overlapping the first group of conductive lines. Each curved conductive line includes a conductive inner core and an outer cover layer. The second adhesive layer covers the curved conductive lines and the first adhesive layer. The visual enhancement structure corresponds to each curved conductive line in the stacking direction of the protective cover and the conductive layer.
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Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This disclosure relates to a touch assembly and its manufacturing method. [Previous Technology]

[0002] With the diversified development of touch modules, they have been successfully applied in industrial and consumer electronics products. Touch products integrated with various medium and large-sized products will become increasingly common.

[0003] However, a conventional process for manufacturing touch modules currently uses indium tin oxide (ITO) as a transparent electrode. The production of ITO requires the rare metal indium. Indium reserves are limited, and its mining process causes environmental pollution. Furthermore, the aforementioned conventional process also generates a large amount of ITO waste, which needs to be properly disposed of to avoid environmental pollution. Moreover, the aforementioned conventional process requires high-temperature, high-pressure vacuum coating equipment, resulting in high energy consumption.

[0004] Therefore, how to propose a touch assembly and its manufacturing method that can solve the above problems is one of the problems that the industry is eager to invest R&D resources to solve. [Summary of the Invention]

[0005] In view of this, one of the purposes of this disclosure is to provide a touch assembly and a method for manufacturing the same that can solve the above problems.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, according to one embodiment of this disclosure, a touch assembly includes a protective cover, a first adhesive layer, a conductive layer, a second adhesive layer, and a visual enhancement structure. The first adhesive layer is disposed on the protective cover. The thickness of the first adhesive layer ranges from 20 µm to 200 µm. The conductive layer includes curved conductive lines disposed on the first adhesive layer. The curved conductive lines include a first group of conductive lines extending along a first direction and a second group of conductive lines extending along a second direction and overlapping the first group of conductive lines. Each curved conductive line includes a conductive inner core and an outer cover layer. The second adhesive layer covers the curved conductive lines and the first adhesive layer. The visual enhancement structure corresponds to the curved conductive lines in the stacking direction of the protective cover and the conductive layer.

[0007] In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the visual effect improvement structure is an anti-glare film layer disposed on a protective cover.

[0008] In one or more embodiments disclosed herein, the visual enhancement structure includes a polarizer.

[0009] In one or more embodiments of this disclosure, the visual enhancement structure is stacked on the side of the conductor layer near the protective cover.

[0010] In one or more embodiments of this disclosure, the visual enhancement structure is stacked on the side of the conductor layer away from the protective cover.

[0011] In one or more embodiments of this disclosure, the visual enhancement structure further includes a retardation film. The retardation film is disposed on a polarizer.

[0012] In one or more embodiments of this disclosure, each bent conductor is an enameled wire.

[0013] In one or more embodiments of this disclosure, the visual enhancement structure includes a polarizing layer. The polarizing layer covers the outer layer of each curved conductor.

[0014] In one or more embodiments of this disclosure, the visual enhancement structure further includes a retardation film. The retardation film covers the outer coating of each bent conductor. A polarizing layer covers the retardation film.

[0015] In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the material of the outer coating is selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl alcohol formaldehyde, polyurethane, polyamide, polyester, polyester-polyimide, polyamide-polyimide and polyimide.

[0016] In summary, in the touch assembly disclosed herein, since each bent wire is a wire comprising a conductive inner core and an outer coating layer, it can be fabricated in the touch assembly using wire winding technology, thereby eliminating the high pollution and high energy consumption problems of the conventional complex process of using indium tin oxide (ITO) as a transparent electrode. By placing the bent wire between the first adhesive layer and the second adhesive layer, the gap between the bent wires can be filled by the first adhesive layer and the second adhesive layer, thereby effectively reducing the visibility of the bent wires when viewed from the side of the second adhesive layer (i.e., reducing the generation of shadows). By providing a visual effect improvement structure corresponding to each bent wire in the touch assembly, the problem of grid patterns easily appearing when viewing the touch assembly in high-brightness environments can be effectively solved.

[0017] The above description is only used to illustrate the problem to be solved by this disclosure, the technical means to solve the problem, and the effects produced, etc. The specific details of this disclosure will be described in detail in the following implementation methods and related figures.

Implementation Method

[0019] Several embodiments of this disclosure will be disclosed below with reference to the drawings. For clarity, many practical details will be described in the following description. However, it should be understood that these practical details should not be used to limit this disclosure. That is, in some embodiments of this disclosure, these practical details are not necessary. In addition, for the sake of simplicity, some conventional structures and components will be shown in the drawings in a simple schematic manner.

[0020] Please refer to Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch assembly 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 2 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating some of the components in Figure 1. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, in this embodiment, the touch assembly 100 includes a protective cover 110, a first adhesive layer 120, a plurality of bent wires 130, a second adhesive layer 140, and a circuit board 150. The first adhesive layer 120 is disposed on the protective cover 110. The bent wires 130 are disposed on the first adhesive layer 120 and include a first group of wires G1 and a second group of wires G2. The first group of wires G1 extends along a first direction and is spaced apart. The second group of wires G2 extends along a second direction and overlaps the first group of wires G1 and is spaced apart. In some embodiments, the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to each other, for example, the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. The second adhesive layer 140 covers the bent wires 130 and the first adhesive layer 120. Circuit board 150 is electrically connected to bent wire 130. Circuit board 150 is, for example, a flexible circuit board, but this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0021] As shown in Figure 2, specifically, each bent conductor 130 includes a conductive inner core 131 and an outer covering layer 132. The outer covering layer 132 includes an insulating material. Therefore, the conductive inner cores 131 of the first group of conductors G1 and the second group of conductors G2 are electrically insulated by the outer covering layers 132 of the first group of conductors G1 and the second group of conductors G2. In this way, touch signals (such as mutual capacitance sensing signals) between the first group of conductors G1 and the second group of conductors G2 can be extracted to the circuit board 150.

[0022] In this embodiment, each bent wire 130 is an enameled wire. Therefore, the bent wire 130 can be fabricated in the touch assembly 100 using a winding technique, thereby avoiding the high pollution and high energy consumption problems of the conventional complex process of using indium tin oxide (ITO) as a transparent electrode.

[0023] In practical applications, the bent wire 130 can also be a combination of enameled wire and ITO transparent electrode. For example, one of the first group of wires G1 and the second group of wires G2 of the bent wire 130 is enameled wire, while the other group of the first group of wires G1 and the second group of wires G2 is ITO transparent electrode.

[0024] In some embodiments, the material of the conductive core 131 of the bent wire 130 includes silver, copper, aluminum, tungsten or similar metals.

[0025] In some embodiments, the material of the conductive core 131 of the bent wire 130 includes a palladium-copper alloy, a silver-palladium-copper alloy, a molybdenum-rhenium alloy, an aluminum alloy, a nickel alloy, or a similar alloy.

[0026] In this embodiment, the thickness of the first adhesive layer 120 is in the range of 20 µm to 200 µm. The initial tack of the first adhesive layer 120 is in the range of 1800 gf / in to 4000 gf / in. It should be noted that when the rigidity of the bent wire 130 is high (for example, the material of the conductive core 131 of the bent wire 130 is an alloy), the bent wire 130 is prone to generating breakage stress when wound on the first adhesive layer 120, which can lead to jumper problems. By limiting the thickness and initial tack of the first adhesive layer 120 to the aforementioned specific range, the problem of jumper problems of the bent wire 130 relative to the first adhesive layer 120 during the winding process can be effectively avoided. Specifically, when either the thickness or the initial tack of the first adhesive layer 120 is less than the lower limit of the aforementioned range, jumper problems are likely to occur. When the thickness of the first adhesive layer 120 exceeds the upper limit of its range, it leads to an increase in the overall size, weight, and cost of the touch assembly 100. When the initial adhesion of the first adhesive layer 120 exceeds the upper limit of its range, not only is the choice of materials limited, but reworkability is also reduced.

[0027] In some embodiments, the material of the outer sheath 132 of the bent wire 130 includes polyvinyl formal, polyurethane, polyamide, polyester, polyester-polyimide, polyamide-polyimide or polyimide, but this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0028] In some embodiments, the wire diameter of the conductive core 131 of the bent wire 130 is in the range of 2 µm to 20 µm. Preferably, the wire diameter of the conductive core 131 is in the range of 2 µm to 5 µm to improve the visibility of the touch assembly 100. That is, the visibility of the bent wire 130 can be reduced. In some embodiments, the thickness of the outer cover 132 of the bent wire 130 is in the range of 1 µm to 3 µm. For example, in one embodiment, the wire diameter of the conductive core 131 is about 5 µm, and the thickness of the outer cover 132 is about 2 µm (i.e., the wire diameter of the bent wire 130 is about 7 µm), but this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0029] As shown in Figure 2, in this embodiment, the first adhesive layer 120 and the second adhesive layer 140 fill the gap between the first group of conductors G1 and the gap between the second group of conductors G2. This eliminates the gaps caused by indentations between the bent conductor 130 and the first adhesive layer 120 and the second adhesive layer 140, thereby effectively reducing the visibility of the bent conductor 130 when viewed from the side of the second adhesive layer 140 (i.e., reducing the generation of shadows).

[0030] In some embodiments, at least one of the first adhesive layer 120 and the second adhesive layer 140 is an optical clear adhesive (OCA) layer or a liquid optical clear adhesive (LOCA) layer, but this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0031] In some embodiments, the thickness of the second adhesive layer 140 is in the range of 25 µm to 150 µm. When the thickness of the second adhesive layer 140 is less than the lower limit of the aforementioned range, the aforementioned gaps are not easily eliminated completely; when the thickness of the second adhesive layer 140 is greater than the lower limit of the aforementioned range, it will lead to an increase in the overall volume, weight and cost of the touch assembly 100.

[0032] Please refer to Figure 3 for a flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing a touch assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 3, and in conjunction with Figures 1 and 2, in this embodiment, the method for manufacturing the touch assembly includes steps S110 to S140.

[0033] Step S110: Attach the first adhesive layer 120 to the protective cover plate 110.

[0034] In some embodiments, step S110 is performed by continuously laminating the first adhesive layer 120 onto the protective cover plate 110 at about 130 degrees Celsius for about 40 minutes, but this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0035] In some embodiments, a black matrix (BM) layer may be formed on the protective cover plate 110 before step S110. After step S110, the first adhesive layer 120 contacts the black matrix layer.

[0036] Step S120: A plurality of bent wires 130 are provided on the first adhesive layer 120.

[0037] In some embodiments, step S120 may include: winding an enameled wire 130A (see Figures 5C and 7B) onto the first adhesive layer 120; and cutting the enameled wire 130A to form a bent conductor 130.

[0038] In some embodiments, the step of cutting the enameled wire 130A to form the bent conductor 130 is performed by a laser cutting process, but this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0039] Step S130: Cover the second adhesive layer 140 onto the bent wire 130 and the first adhesive layer 120.

[0040] In some embodiments, step S130 is performed by continuously laminating the second adhesive layer 140 onto the first adhesive layer 120 at about 130 degrees Celsius for about 40 minutes, but this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0041] Step S140: Solder the circuit board 150 to the bent wire 130.

[0042] In some embodiments, step S140 is performed by a laser welding process, but this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0043] Please refer to Figure 4, which is a flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing a touch assembly according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 4, and in conjunction with Figures 1 and 2, in this embodiment, the method for manufacturing the touch assembly includes steps S210 to S240.

[0044] Step S210: A plurality of bent wires 130 are provided on the first adhesive layer 120.

[0045] In some embodiments, step S210 may include: winding an enameled wire 130A (see Figures 5C and 7B) onto the first adhesive layer 120; and cutting the enameled wire 130A to form a bent conductor 130.

[0046] Step S220: Cover the second adhesive layer 140 onto the bent wire 130 and the first adhesive layer 120.

[0047] In some embodiments, step S220 is performed by continuously laminating the second adhesive layer 140 onto the first adhesive layer 120 at about 130 degrees Celsius for about 40 minutes, but this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0048] Step S230: Solder the circuit board 150 to the bent wire 130.

[0049] In some embodiments, step S230 is performed by a laser welding process, but this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0050] Step S240: Transfer the combination including the first adhesive layer 120, the bent wire 130, the second adhesive layer 140 and the circuit board 150 onto the protective cover plate 110.

[0051] Compared with the embodiment shown in Figure 3, the embodiment shown in Figure 4 transfers the combination of the first adhesive layer 120, the bent wire 130 and the second adhesive layer 140 to the protective cover plate 110 after the lamination process of the second adhesive layer 140. Therefore, the problem of high temperature during the lamination process damaging the black matrix layer on the protective cover plate 110 is effectively avoided.

[0052] Please refer to Figures 5A to 5J. Figures 5A to 5J are schematic diagrams illustrating intermediate steps of a manufacturing method for a touch assembly according to an embodiment of this disclosure. This embodiment is a specific implementation of the manufacturing method shown in Figure 4, and will be described in detail below.

[0053] As shown in Figure 5A, in this step, release films RF1 and RF2 are respectively attached to the opposite sides of the first adhesive layer 120.

[0054] As shown in Figure 5B, this step follows the step shown in Figure 5A. In this step, the release film RF2 is peeled off, and then the embedded wire EW is placed on the surface of the first adhesive layer 120 where the release film RF2 was originally attached. The embedded wire EW can be wound onto the first adhesive layer 120 using a winding machine 910. The wound embedded wire EW is U-shaped, as shown in Figure 5B, but this disclosure is not limited to this.

[0055] As shown in Figure 5C, this step follows the step shown in Figure 5B. In this step, the enameled wire 130A is wound onto the first adhesive layer 120. The winding method is, for example, to wind the wire along a reciprocating path onto the first adhesive layer 120, such that the enameled wire 130A partially covers the embedded wire EW. Specifically, as shown in Figure 5C, the wound enameled wire 130A is arranged on the first adhesive layer 120 in a checkerboard pattern, and the three edges of the checkerboard pattern overlap the embedded wire EW.

[0056] As shown in Figure 5D, this step follows the step shown in Figure 5C. In this step, a single enameled wire 130A is cut to form a plurality of bent conductors 130. Specifically, this step can be performed by peeling the embedded wire EW from the first adhesive layer 120, causing the enameled wire 130A to break and form the bent conductors 130. The mechanism of peeling the embedded wire EW to break the enameled wire 130A is similar to the disassembly of the outer packaging of a cigarette box. Compared to cutting the enameled wire 130A with a knife, this step does not leave knife marks on the first adhesive layer 120. Therefore, step S210 can be achieved by sequentially performing the steps shown in Figures 5B, 5C, and 5D.

[0057] In some embodiments, the diameter of the embedded wire EW is larger than that of the enameled wire 130A. This allows the thicker embedded wire EW to have greater tensile strength than the thinner enameled wire 130A, thereby preventing the embedded wire EW from breaking during the process of peeling off the embedded wire EW and causing the enameled wire 130A to break. In one embodiment, the diameter of the embedded wire EW is approximately 20 µm, while the diameter of the enameled wire 130A is approximately 5 µm, but this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0058] As shown in Figure 5E, this step follows the step shown in Figure 5D. In this step, a water-based adhesive 140A can be applied to the first adhesive layer 120 using an adhesive applicator 920. Specifically, the water-based adhesive 140A is applied to the outer edge of the first adhesive layer 120. In some embodiments, the water-based adhesive 140A is a light-curing adhesive. For example, a light-curing adhesive can harden after being exposed to ultraviolet light. Therefore, by simultaneously exposing the adhesive to light in this step, the water-based adhesive 140A applied to the outer edge of the first adhesive layer 120 can be hardened into an exterior wall.

[0059] As shown in Figure 5F, this step follows the step shown in Figure 5E. In this step, the water-based adhesive 140A can be applied to the first adhesive layer 120 using the adhesive applicator 920 to cover the curved wire 130. That is, the water-based adhesive 140A is applied and filled into the space within the aforementioned exterior wall in this step. In other embodiments, this step may also employ a scraping, dotting, slittering, filling, or similar application methods.

[0060] As shown in Figure 5G, this step follows the step shown in Figure 5F. In this step, the pressure plate 940 covers the water-based adhesive 140A, and the roller 950 rolls the pressure plate 940. Thus, by simultaneously exposing the surface to light in this step, the water-based adhesive 140A can be hardened into a second adhesive layer 140 of uniform thickness.

[0061] As shown in Figure 5H, this step follows the step shown in Figure 5G. In this step, after the water-based adhesive 140A has hardened into the second adhesive layer 140, the pressure plate 940 can be removed. Therefore, step S220 can be achieved by sequentially performing the steps shown in Figures 5E, 5F, 5G, and 5H.

[0062] As shown in Figure 5I, this step follows the step shown in Figure 5H. In this step, the circuit board 150 is soldered to the bent wire 130 (i.e., step S230).

[0063] Please refer to Figure 6, which is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating Figure 5I. As shown in Figure 6, a soldering machine 930 can be used to solder the circuit board 150 to the bent conductor 130. The circuit board 150 is provided with a bonding pad 151. The bonding pad 151 is provided with a metal layer 152. For example, the material of the metal layer 152 contains tin, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the soldering machine 930 is a laser soldering machine. The laser can penetrate the first adhesive layer 120 and the second adhesive layer 140 and strike the bent conductor 130 in contact with the metal layer 152. In some embodiments, the melting point of the outer cover layer 132 of the bent conductor 130 is lower than the melting point of the metal layer 152, so the high temperature generated by the laser can first vaporize the outer cover layer 132 to expose the conductive core 131 of the bent conductor 130, and then melt the metal layer 152 to solder it to the conductive core 131.

[0064] As shown in Figure 5J, this step follows the step shown in Figure 5I. This step involves transferring the combination of the first adhesive layer 120, the bent wire 130, the second adhesive layer 140, and the circuit board 150 onto the protective cover plate 110 (i.e., step S240). In the embodiment shown in Figure 5J, the aforementioned combination is performed by first peeling off the release film RF1, and then attaching the first adhesive layer 120 to the protective cover plate 110. Furthermore, in this step, the release film RF3 can also be attached to the second adhesive layer 140 to protect the second adhesive layer 140.

[0065] Please refer to Figures 7A to 7H. Figures 7A to 7H are schematic diagrams illustrating intermediate steps of a manufacturing method for a touch assembly according to one embodiment of this disclosure. This embodiment is another specific embodiment of the manufacturing method shown in Figure 4, which will be described in detail below.

[0066] As shown in Figure 7A, in this step, release films RF1 and RF2 are respectively attached to the opposite sides of the first adhesive layer 120.

[0067] As shown in Figure 7B, this step follows the step shown in Figure 7A. In this step, the release film RF2 is peeled off, and then the enameled wire 130A is wound onto the first adhesive layer 120. The winding method is, for example, winding the wire onto the first adhesive layer 120 along a reciprocating, meandering path. Specifically, as shown in Figure 7B, the wound enameled wire 130A is arranged on the first adhesive layer 120 in a checkerboard pattern.

[0068] As shown in Figure 7C, this step follows the step shown in Figure 7B. In this step, the second adhesive layer 140 with the release film RF3 is attached to the first adhesive layer 120. Specifically, the second adhesive layer 140 is attached to the first adhesive layer 120 with the side away from the release film RF3, so as to cover the first adhesive layer 120 and the enameled wire 130A. In other words, the combination of the first adhesive layer 120, the enameled wire 130A and the second adhesive layer 140 is stacked between the release films RF1 and RF3. Compared with the second adhesive layer 140 shown in Figure 5H, which is formed by curing with water-based adhesive 140A, the second adhesive layer 140 in this step is in the form of sheet adhesive.

[0069] As shown in Figure 7D, this step follows the step shown in Figure 7C. In this step, the enameled wire 130A can be cut using a cutting machine 960 to form a plurality of bent conductors 130. For example, the cutting machine 960 is a laser cutting machine. While the enameled wire 130A is laser-cut to form bent conductors 130 (i.e., loop cutting), the first adhesive layer 120, the second adhesive layer 140, and the release films RF1 and RF3 are also laser-cut simultaneously (i.e., shape cutting). Compared to cutting the enameled wire 130A with a cutting tool, this step does not cause edge adhesive pulling at the cut points of the release films RF1 and RF3. Therefore, after sequentially performing the steps shown in Figures 7B, 7C, and 7D, steps S210 and S220 can be achieved simultaneously.

[0070] In some embodiments, the laser used in the cutting machine 960 is a picosecond laser, a femtosecond laser, a CO2 laser or a similar light source, but this disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0071] As shown in Figure 7E, this step follows the step shown in Figure 7D. In this step, the circuit board 150 and the release film RF3 are aligned to expose a region of the second adhesive layer 140, so that the circuit board 150 can contact the second adhesive layer 140.

[0072] As shown in Figure 7F, this step follows the step shown in Figure 7E. In this step, the circuit board 150 is soldered to the bent wire 130 using a soldering machine 930. The soldering process can be referred to Figure 6 and its related description, and will not be repeated here. Therefore, step S230 can be achieved by sequentially performing the steps shown in Figures 7E and 7F.

[0073] As shown in Figure 7G, this step follows the step shown in Figure 7F. In this step, a protective varnish may be sprayed onto the soldered circuit board 150. The protective varnish may be, for example, three-anti-glue, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, this step may also follow the step shown in Figure 5I.

[0074] As shown in Figure 7H, this step follows the step shown in Figure 7G. This step involves transferring the combination of the first adhesive layer 120, the bent wire 130, the second adhesive layer 140, and the circuit board 150 onto the protective cover plate 110 (i.e., step S240). In the embodiment shown in Figure 7H, the aforementioned combination is performed by first peeling off the release film RF1, and then transferring it by attaching the first adhesive layer 120 to the protective cover plate 110. The release film RF3 remains attached to the second adhesive layer 140 to protect the second adhesive layer 140.

[0075] Please refer to Figure 8, which is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch assembly 200 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 8, in this embodiment, the touch assembly 200 includes a protective cover 110, a first adhesive layer 120, a conductive layer 13L, a second adhesive layer 140, and a visual enhancement structure 210. The first adhesive layer 120 is disposed on the protective cover 110. The thickness of the first adhesive layer 120 is in the range of 20 µm to 200 µm. The conductive layer 13L includes bent conductive lines 130 disposed on the first adhesive layer 120. The bent conductive lines 130 are the same as those shown in Figures 1 and 2, and therefore can be referred to in conjunction with the foregoing related description. As mentioned above, the bent conductive lines 130 include a first group of conductive lines G1 extending along a first direction and a second group of conductive lines G2 extending along a second direction and overlapping the first group of conductive lines G1. Each bent conductive line 130 includes a conductive inner core 131 and an outer cover layer 132. The second adhesive layer 140 covers the curved wire 130 and the first adhesive layer 120.

[0076] Specifically, in this embodiment, the visual effect improvement structure 210 corresponds to the bent wire 130 in the stacking direction D of the protective cover plate 110 and the conductive layer 13L. Specifically, the visual effect improvement structure 210 is an anti-glare coating (AG) layer disposed on the protective cover plate 110, located on the side of the protective cover plate 110 away from the first adhesive layer 120. By providing the visual effect improvement structure 210 in the touch assembly 200, the problems of light color and blurred appearance when the user views the touch assembly 200 can be effectively improved.

[0077] In some embodiments, the image distinctiveness (DOI) of the visual enhancement structure 210 is about 0 to 2. In some embodiments, the gloss at 60° is about 15 to 35. In some embodiments, the haze of the visual enhancement structure 210 is about 20 to 40. In some embodiments, the transmittance (T%) of the visual enhancement structure 210 for light at a wavelength of 550 nm is greater than about 88%. In some embodiments, the arithmetic mean roughness (Ra) of the visual enhancement structure 210 is about 0.5 µm to about 1.1 µm. In some embodiments, the mean width of the profile element (RSm) of the visual enhancement structure 210 is less than about 250 µm.

[0078] Please refer to Figure 9, which is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch assembly 300A according to another embodiment of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 9, in this embodiment, the touch assembly 300A includes a protective cover plate 110, a first adhesive layer 120, a conductive layer 13L, a second adhesive layer 140, and a visual effect improvement structure 310. The protective cover plate 110, the first adhesive layer 120, the conductive layer 13L, and the second adhesive layer 140 are the same as those shown in Figure 8, and will not be described again here. Compared to the embodiment shown in Figure 8, the visual effect improvement structure 310 of this embodiment includes a polarizer 311. The visual effect improvement structure 310 is stacked on the side of the conductive layer 13L near the protective cover plate 110. Specifically, the polarizer 311 is stacked between the protective cover plate 110 and the first adhesive layer 120. The polarizer 311 can convert ambient light, which originally has a chaotic light wave vibration direction, into polarized light. Polarizing film 311 can effectively filter out glare caused by light reflection, thereby improving visual clarity.

[0079] Please refer to Figure 10, which is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch assembly 300B according to another embodiment of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 10, in this embodiment, the touch assembly 300B includes a protective cover 110, a first adhesive layer 120, a conductive layer 13L, a second adhesive layer 140, and a visual enhancement structure 310. The protective cover 110, the first adhesive layer 120, the conductive layer 13L, and the second adhesive layer 140 are the same as those shown in Figure 9, and will not be described again here. Compared to the embodiment shown in Figure 9, the visual enhancement structure 310 in this embodiment is stacked on the side of the conductive layer 13L away from the protective cover 110. Specifically, the visual enhancement structure 310 is stacked on the side of the second adhesive layer 140 away from the conductive layer 13L, but it can still achieve the effect of filtering glare to improve visual clarity.

[0080] Please refer to Figure 11, which is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch assembly 300C according to another embodiment of this disclosure. As shown in Figure 10, in this embodiment, the touch assembly 300C includes a protective cover plate 110, a first adhesive layer 120, a conductive layer 13L, a second adhesive layer 140, and a visual effect improvement structure 310A. The protective cover plate 110, the first adhesive layer 120, the conductive layer 13L, and the second adhesive layer 140 are the same as those shown in Figure 9, and will not be described again here. Compared to the embodiment shown in Figure 9, the visual effect improvement structure 310A of this embodiment further includes a phase retardation film 312. The phase retardation film 312 is disposed on a polarizer 311. Specifically, the phase retardation film 312 is disposed on the side of the polarizer 311 away from the protective cover plate 110. After passing through the polarizer 311, ambient light becomes linearly polarized light with only one vibration direction. The phase retardation film 312, for example, is a quarter-wavelength film that allows two mutually perpendicular vibrational components of transmitted light to have a quarter-wavelength phase difference, thus converting linearly polarized light into circularly polarized light. When ambient light passing through the visual enhancement structure 310A is reflected by the conductor layer 13L, it will be filtered out again by the visual enhancement structure 310A, thereby effectively reducing the reflection of ambient light and improving the contract ratio of the image displayed by the touch assembly 300C.

[0081] Please refer to Figures 12 and 13. Figure 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch assembly 400 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 13 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a curved conductor 130 and a visual enhancement structure 410 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figures 12 and 13, in this embodiment, the touch assembly 400 includes a protective cover 110, a first adhesive layer 120, a conductor layer 13L, a second adhesive layer 140, and a visual enhancement structure 410, wherein the protective cover 110, the first adhesive layer 120, the conductor layer 13L, and the second adhesive layer 140 are the same as those shown in Figure 11, and will not be described again here. Compared to the embodiment shown in Figure 11, the visual enhancement structure 410 of this embodiment includes a polarizing layer 411 and a phase retardation film 412. The phase retardation film 412 covers the outer cover layer 132 of each curved conductor 130. A polarizing layer 411 covers the retardation film 412. The polarizing layer 411 and the retardation film 412 have the same or similar functions as the polarizer 311 in Figure 11, and therefore will not be described in detail here. In this way, when ambient light passing through the visual enhancement structure 410 is reflected by the conductive layer 13L, it will be filtered out again by the visual enhancement structure 410, thereby effectively reducing the reflection of ambient light and improving the contrast of the image displayed by the touch assembly 400.

[0082] From the detailed description of the specific embodiments disclosed above, it is clear that in the touch assembly of this disclosure, since each bent wire is a wire containing a conductive inner core and an outer coating layer, it can be fabricated in the touch assembly using a winding technique, thereby avoiding the high pollution and high energy consumption problems of the conventional complex process of using indium tin oxide (ITO) as a transparent electrode. By limiting the thickness and initial adhesion of the first adhesive layer to a specific range, the problem of skipping wires relative to the first adhesive layer during the winding process can be effectively avoided. In the manufacturing method of the touch assembly of this disclosure, by transferring the combination of the first adhesive layer, the bent wire, and the second adhesive layer to the protective cover plate after the lamination process of the second adhesive layer, the problem of damage to the black matrix layer on the protective cover plate caused by the high temperature during the lamination process can be effectively avoided. Furthermore, by laminating the curved wires between the first and second adhesive layers, the gaps between the curved wires can be filled by the first and second adhesive layers, thereby effectively reducing the visibility of the curved wires when viewed from the side of the second adhesive layer (i.e., reducing the generation of shadows). By setting a visual improvement structure corresponding to each curved wire in the touch assembly, the problem of grid patterns easily appearing when viewing the touch assembly in high-brightness environments can be effectively solved.

[0083] Although the present disclosure has been disclosed above with reference to embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present disclosure. Any person skilled in the art may make various modifications and alterations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present disclosure shall be determined by the appended claims. [Simplified Explanation of the Diagram]

[0018] To make the above and other objects, features, advantages and embodiments of this disclosure more apparent and understandable, the accompanying drawings are described as follows: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch assembly according to one embodiment of this disclosure. Figure 2 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating some of the components in Figure 1. Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing a touch assembly according to one embodiment of this disclosure. Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing a touch assembly according to another embodiment of this disclosure. Figures 5A to 5J are schematic diagrams illustrating intermediate steps of a method for manufacturing a touch assembly according to one embodiment of this disclosure. Figure 6 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating Figure 5I. Figures 7A to 7H are schematic diagrams illustrating intermediate steps of a method for manufacturing a touch assembly according to one embodiment of this disclosure. Figure 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch assembly according to another embodiment of this disclosure. Figure 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch assembly according to another embodiment of this disclosure. Figure 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch assembly according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch assembly according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch assembly according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 13 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a curved wire and a visual improvement structure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A touch assembly comprising: a protective cover; a first adhesive layer disposed on the protective cover, wherein the thickness of the first adhesive layer is in the range of 20 µm to 200 µm; a conductive layer comprising a plurality of bent conductive lines disposed on the first adhesive layer, the bent conductive lines comprising a first group of conductive lines extending along a first direction and a second group of conductive lines extending along a second direction and overlapping the first group of conductive lines, wherein each of the bent conductive lines comprises a conductive core and an outer cover layer, wherein the conductive core has a wire diameter in the range of 2 µm to 20 µm, and the outer cover layer has a thickness in the range of 1 µm to 3 µm; a second adhesive layer, wherein the bent conductive lines are embedded between the first adhesive layer and the second adhesive layer; and a visual enhancement structure corresponding to each of the bent conductive lines in a stacking direction of the protective cover and the conductive layer. In this case, a portion of the outer sheath of at least one of the bent conductors is removed to expose the corresponding conductive core, and the exposed conductive core is electrically connected to a metal layer of a circuit board.

2. The touch assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the visual enhancement structure is an anti-glare film layer disposed on the protective cover.

3. The touch assembly as described in claim 1, wherein the visual enhancement structure includes a polarizer.

4. The touch assembly as described in claim 3, wherein the visual enhancement structure is stacked on the side of the conductive layer near the protective cover.

5. The touch assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein the visual enhancement structure is stacked on the side of the conductive layer away from the protective cover.

6. The touch assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein the visual enhancement structure further includes a retardation film disposed on the polarizer.

7. The touch assembly as described in claim 1, wherein each of the bent wires is an enameled wire.

8. The touch assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the visual enhancement structure includes a polarizing layer that covers the outer cover of each of the curved wires.

9. The touch assembly as claimed in claim 8, wherein the visual enhancement structure further includes a retardation film covering the outer coating of each of the curved wires, and the polarizing layer covering the retardation film.

10. The touch assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the material of the outer coating is selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl alcohol formaldehyde, polyurethane, polyamide, polyester, polyester-polyimide, polyamide-polyimide and polyimide.

Citation Information

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